RUMBULLION

A spiced rum came my way…it´s called Rumbullion – the name sounds like a concoction made in an iron pot on fire..

But Rumbullion is made by the Master of Malt or more specifically Professor Cornelius Ampleforth. According to the website it contains a blend of high proof Caribbean rum, madagascar vanilla, orange rind, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. The final blend is 42.6 ABV or 96 proof.

The bottle is wrapped in krinkled brown paper with imprints of a Navy grog tub, emblazoned with the words: “The Queen, God Bless Her” and sealed with black wax, it looks really cool. This spiced rum is at first a veritable clove explosion and my first thought is that it would be good in Christmas cocktails and tiki drinks.

At the palate the first thing that hit was a warm strong rum and clove flavor. But under the clove came other flavors out like that of burnt orange peel, cinnamon, honey and heavy molasses.

The nose is interesting, it`s spicy and it reminds me of ancient rum barrels in a rum cellar that is very very old..also it reminds me of christmas, gotta be the spices…

To me this rum fits best in drinks that are good with a very spicy flavor and you can sip it, no problem, maybe together with some christmas treatments. But it would also do well in some tiki drinks due to it´s spiciness. Don´s Caribbean Punch comes to mind..

Stir together in a glass and add whipped cream and cinnamon or nutmeg dust on top

Warm and spicy…the Rumbullion is doing well here – it`s a sure winter warmer. To me it´s not so much a sipper as a spiced drink rum. But let´s see how this rum performs in a tiki drink, so on to something colder, a spiced up version of Donn`s Caribbean Punch.

SPICED CARIBBEAN PUNCH

0.5 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz falernum

0.5 oz simple

1 .5 oz rootbeer

1 oz Rumbullion

1 oz Tiki Lovers dark rum or Smith and Cross

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1/4 tsp grenadine

3 drops pernod

0.5 oz orgeat

8 oz crushed ice

Mix in blender with crushed ice 5 sek.

Not bad at all…it blends well too with the other rum.

So my conclusion is that Rumbullion is a rum best used in winter holiday drinks and in some tiki drinks.

4 comments to RUMBULLION

Brilliant! Love the bottle, that’s for sure. However authentic it may be in appearance, I sure hope it isn’t in taste.

Most agree that the early rums were really quite harsh, and while there was like now, much alteration going on (mostly to fool sailors into drinking new make rather than the dark rums they preferred), you can be sure that the additives weren’t pretty like this one.

This is indicated in the early names like “rumbullion” and “rumbustion”, meaning “rowdy” or “uproar”, tumultuous words and meanings for rum that would set your throat on fire.

Tiare, think too of one of the British drinks of the time. the “Ramboozle” or “Rumfustian”. These were distilled from a mixture of eggs, spices, wine, and beer – no, uh, rumbullion at all, lol.

Like an old lover, we all tend to remember the romance but not the smelly socks and bad breath. Such is history. But I sure love that bottle…

[…] story about Japanese bartending in Caviar Magazine. • Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice reviews Rumbullion, a spiced rum made with vanilla, orange rind, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Since the spice mix […]